PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Pilot over drink/drive limit removed from aircraft
Old 6th Nov 2014, 14:58
  #68 (permalink)  
A and C
 
Join Date: Jan 1999
Location: north of barlu
Posts: 6,207
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Shot One........ Spot On !

Due to the professional attitude of almost all pilots the statistical risk of a passenger getting on an airliner with one crewmember under the influence of alcohol is almost nil and the chances of being in an accident caused by that crewmember is even closer to nil ( and that is just the way it should be) but it makes a very good headline in the papers when they can bring down an individual in authority with a story in about a drunk pilot without bringing down the whole system.

The elephant in the room is that a guy fresh from his bed with an achohol reading just above the very low limit is likely to be in a much better state to fly than a pilot who is on the fifth very early start of the week and has the very subtle fatigue setting in and as is the nature of the fatigue beast not aware of his lack of fitness to fly.

It is easy to measure achohol, almost imposable to mesure fatigue, In the eyes of the gutter press a pilot just over the very low acohol limit is a drunk, a pilot who phones in with fatgue and delays the holiday of Mrs Miggins will be overpaid and lazy according to the press.

It is easy to be seen dealing with the alcohol non problem, it is very expensive to deal properly with the fatgue problem and the press who would not want to be responsable for pricing flights out of the reach of their readers.

Before the totaly anti alcohol PC brigade get going nothing said above condones flying above the acohol limit.
A and C is offline